Steam electric pressing iron



Dec. 12, 1950 c. M. CHAPIN 2,533,995

STEAM ELECTRIC PRESSING IRON Filed June 5, 1946 2 Shegcs-Sheet 1 IA/ VE/ l 70,2 Chas-nee M. (MP/u.

r977 EN Y Dec. 12, 1950 c. M. CHAPIN 2,533,995

STEAM ELECTRIC PRESSING IRON Filed June 5, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I N vE/v TOE CHE5TE2 M. CHHPMJ,

Patentecl Dec. 12, 1950 STEAM ELECTRIC PRESSING IRON Chester M. Chapin, St. Louis, Mo.

Application June 5, 1946, Serial No. 674,476

The invention relates to steaming irons and more particularly to irons adapted to be used commercially and with an external steam supply.

One object of the invention is to trap moisture condensed in the steam line and to dry the steam as it passes through the iron, thus preventing water contacting and wetting the fabric being pressed.

Another object is to vaporizethe trapped moisture, making it unnecessary to bleed water from the iron or hose.

Another object is to eliminate the steam re turn line from the iron.

.These and other detail objects of the invention, as will appear below, are attained by the structure shown in the accompanying drawings, which structure is intended to be'illustrative and not exclusive of other arrangements embodying the general inventive principles. In these drawings Figure 1 is a top view of an iron constructed according to the invention.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical section taken approximately on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a bottom view of the upper member of the iron and is taken approximately on line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a vertical section drawn to an enlarged scale and taken approximately on line 4-4 of Figure 2 and shows the steam inlet valve.

Figure 5 is a top view of the heating element, and

Figure 6 is a horizontal section taken approximately on line B-ii of Figure 2.

The steaming iron comprises a body I including hollow upper and lower members 2 and 3 having elongated upper and lower chambers 5 and 6, respectively, and fastened rigidly together by screws 4 threaded into lugs do on lower member 3. Lower chamber 6 is bounded by a substantially horizontal top wall I, sloping side walls 8, rear wall 9, and a sole plate ill, and is divided into intermediate and distributing chambers H and I2 by a U-shaped rib it between sole late It and top wall 1 and positioned with the closed portion of the U near the forward. end of the iron and extending rearwardly but terminating short of rear wall 9 to form small connecting passages between intermediate chamber H and distributing chamber i2. Sole plate it has a series of ports M to discharge steam from distributing chamber I2 to the material being ironed,

Upper or primary chamber 5 in upper member 2 is bounded by curved upper walls i5, bottom wall l6 and rear wall ll. Primary and intermediate 2 Claims. (01. 38-77) chambers 5 and H are connected near their 'forward ends by a passage 18 through'bottom'wall 55 of primary chamber 5 and top walll of intermediatechamber ll. Passage 18 opens into primary chamber 5 near the top and into intermediate chamber ll near the bottom. With this arrangement, moisture condensed in the line is trapped in primary chamber 5.

An electrical heating element 19 is positioned between top wall I of lower chamber 6 a'ndbottom wall N5 of upper chamber 5 and isarranged to heat primary chamber 5, intermediate chamber H, and distributing chamber I2 tovaporize entrained moisture as the "steam passes' through these chambers.

A thermostat 2B regulated bya knob 21 controls the temperature of heating element 19 and is connected in series with heating element 13 and to an electrical outlet by a'cord 22. a

A screw 23, threaded into upper'member 2 at passage I B, is provided to bleed the iron of moisture should this become necessary. Under normal operating conditions, all moisture trapped in primary chamber 5 will be vaporized and it will not be necessary to bleed the iron. Primary chamber 5 has a capacity at least severaltimes that of a six-foot quarter-inch hose, such as is usually used with the iron.

In the rear wall ll of primary chamber 5 is a steam inlet 24 connected through a hose 25 to a source of steam. The quantity of steam introduced into primary chamber 5 is regulated by a valve 26 threaded into inlet 24 and comprising a valve seat 21 and a valve stem 28 biased to closed position by a compression spring 29 and opened by manually operating a handle 30 engaging an end of valve stem 28 and attached loosely on a screw 3| threaded into a bracket 32 on valve 26 and locked thereon by a lock nut 38. A compression spring 33 on screw 3| urges handle 30 to inoperative position.

A drip pan 34 attached to the rear of upper member 2 by screws 35 and to valve 26 by screws 36 catches any moisture that leaks past valve stem 28 and holds valve 26 against twisting on upper member 2 about inlet 24.

A handle 31 is attached by screws 4 to upper member 2.

From the above description, it will be noted that primary chamber 5, intermediate chamber H and distributing chamber (2 are connected in series end to end and steam passes substantially the entire length of primary chamber 5 and intermediate chamber I l into an end of distributing chamber I 2 where it passes through discharge ports 14 in sole plate In to the material being pressed. Condensed moisture from the line is trapped in primary chamber 5. Entrained moisture is removed from the steam by. heating the steam as it passes through the primary, intermediate and distributing chambers, insuring dry steam. Water trapped in primary chamber is vaporized completely by heating element I9, thus eliminating the need for periodically bleeding the live steam line or providing a return line. The quantity of steam introduced into the iron is regulated by valve 25.

The details of the structure may be varied substantially from the specific disclosure herein without departing from the spirit of the invention and the exclusive use of those modifications coming within the spirit of the claims is con templated.

What is claimed is:

1. A steaming iron comprising a hollow lower member the entire bottom wall of which forms a sole plate, and a hollow upper member secured thereto with the lower face of the upper member adjacent the upper face of the lower member, said lower member having a vertical wall therein providing distributing and intermediate chambers which are at substantially the same level, the interior of the upper member comprising a primary chamber, the primary chamber overlying the distributing and intermediate chambers with each chamber extending substantially the entire length of the respective members, a heating element confined between those chambers which are at different levels and extending substantially from end to end of the members, a steam inlet at one end of said primary chamber, a steam outlet adjacent the opposite end of the primary chamber, a passage through said members from said outlet to one end of the intermediate chamber, an outlet from the opposite end of said intermediate chamber to one end of said distributing chamber, and discharge outlets spaced along the length of said distributing chamber and leading therefrom through the sole plate to the work. 2. A steaming iron as described in claim 1 in which the sole plate and the lower portion of each of the members have a wide rear end and a pointed forward end and the distributing chamber is formedin part by the sides of the lower membensaid vertical wall being an elongated U-shaped partition wall spaced inwardly from the sides of the lower member and generally parallel to the same to form inner walls of the distributing chamber and forming between its sides the elongated intermediate chamber, the passage from the primary chamber to the intermediate chamber opening into the narrow forward end of the latter and the passage from the intermediate chamber to the distributing chamber being between the ends of said U- shaped wall and the wide rear wall of the dis 7 tributing chamber.

CHESTER M. CHAPIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,432,682 Frankel et al. Oct. 17,1922 1,541,907 Denmark June 16, 1925 1,687,562 Hoffman Oct. 16, 1928 1,766,602 Clark June 24, 1930 1,766,603 Clark June 24, 1930 1,789,478 Sayles Jan. 20, 1931 1,842,784 7 Houston Jan. 26, 1932 1,874,832 Tavender Aug. 30, 1932 2,019,954 Desure Nov. 5, 1935 2,025,092 Cooper Dec. 24, 1935 2,120,763 Moore June 14, 1938 2,137,387 Chapin W Nov. 22, 1938 2,160,421 Sebo May 30, 1939 2,237,381 Wallace Apr. 8, 1941 2,271,289 Dowinsky Jan. 27, 1942 2,278,370 Hoifman Mar. 31, 1942 2,353,604 Waring etal, July 11, 1944 2,371,569 Wolcott et al. Mar. 13, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 7 409,230 Great Britain Apr. 26, 1934 

